Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon 4: Marriage made pure and holy

Begin in prayer

Before we read a husband’s words to his wife, let us ask the Lord to show our family that He made marriage pure and holy, and to teach us how Christ makes His people clean.

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

Hebrews 13:4

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Thank You that marriage is pure and holy, and that You made it for one husband and one wife. Show us how Jesus cleanses His people. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

In this chapter the husband speaks to his wife, and he tells her again and again that she is beautiful. He praises her with pictures such as doves, a flock of goats on Mount Gilead and the tower of David. He says, “You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.” He calls her his bride and asks her to come away with him, and he calls her a locked up garden and a sealed fountain. He pictures the garden full of pomegranates, spices and a well of living waters, flowing like streams from Lebanon. She answers, “Awake, north wind,” and she invites her beloved to come into his garden and taste his precious fruits.

As you read Song of Solomon 4, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God made marriage pure and holy, a love kept for one husband and one wife.

Marriage is holy, and the Bible says it is to be held in honor by all (Hebrews 13 verse 4). In this chapter a husband speaks to his wife in poetry, and every picture says she is lovely in his eyes. Goats on Mount Gilead and a tower where shields hung are pictures from the land they knew (verses 1 and 4). When he says, “There is no spot in you,” he means that in his eyes she is whole and without a flaw (verse 7). He calls her “my sister, my bride,” loving words that tell how close and dear she is to him (verse 9). A locked up garden and a sealed fountain are closed to others, so they picture love kept for one husband (verse 12). Her answer invites him into his garden, and a wife’s love is a gift she gives to her husband (verse 16). Christ cleanses His church until she is holy and without defect (Ephesians 5 verses 26 and 27). A husband’s love is to follow Him.

How does Song of Solomon 4 show us that God made marriage pure and holy, a love kept for one husband and one wife?

A husband delights in his wife and calls her lovely.

He says, “You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.” To her husband she is whole and lovely, and he looks on her with delight. Nothing in these words is meant for anyone else, because they are a husband’s words to his own wife.

Marriage is set apart for one husband and one wife.

He calls her a locked up garden and a sealed fountain (verse 12). A garden with a lock and a spring with a seal are closed to others, kept for one. God set marriage apart as holy, for one man and one woman who are joined together (Genesis 2 verse 24). The Bible says marriage is to be held in honor and kept undefiled (Hebrews 13 verse 4). The same verse warns that God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

Christ makes His people clean, holy and without spot.

The husband’s words, “no spot,” tell of his wife’s beauty in his eyes. Every one of us has the stain of sin, and no husband or wife can wash it away. Christ loved His church and gave Himself for her, to make her holy (Ephesians 5 verses 25 to 27). Those who trust Him are washed clean, and He presents them to Himself without spot or wrinkle.

Memorise

You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.

Song of Solomon 4:7

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, am I trusting Jesus to wash away my sin and make me clean?

The husband tells his wife, “You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.” God made marriage pure and holy, and a husband and wife are to keep it that way. Yet every one of us is stained by sin, and no husband or wife can wash it away.

So Christ loved His church and gave Himself to make her holy. He shed His blood on the cross for His people, and that blood washes them clean from every sin (Revelation 1 verse 5). That sacrifice is enough, and nothing can be added to it. Three days later He rose, and death has no claim on Him.

Come to Him. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. He makes clean every sinner who trusts Him, and one day He will present His people to Himself holy and without defect.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God made marriage pure and holy, and that only Jesus can wash a sinner clean. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Please explain verses 1 to 6 and 9 to 16 yourself, and if Hebrews 13 verse 4 worries a child, comfort them. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for making marriage pure and holy, and for Christ, who cleanses His people, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without defect.

Ephesians 5:26-27

Holy God, thank You for making marriage pure and good. Thank You that Jesus shed His blood to wash sinners clean. Forgive our sin, and give us faith in Him. Keep our family pure in heart and close to You. Amen.